Park cops want stun guns

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- The union representing state parks police wants officers patrolling the parks to be armed with stun guns.

The request by union leaders comes in the wake of nearly three dozen arrests during the Dave Matthews Band's recent two-night stand at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Officers also issued 58 tickets, many for marijuana and alcohol-related violations.

On Saturday night, police arrested David M. Matthews and charged him with third-degree sexual abuse, a class-B misdemeanor near the Hall of Springs. Also arrested Saturday night were Jordan Hensleigh, 18, of Saratoga Springs, and Michael S. Lester, 18, of Greenfield Center, both were charged with second-degree assault, a class-D felony after beating another man in the park.

Jack Sadousky, vice president of the Park Police sergeants and supervisors union, Local 102, said tasers are an effective tool and important for officer safety.

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"It makes people stop their behavior and walk away because they don't want to get tasered," he said.

Sadousky spoke about the police "use of force continuum" which includes their pepper spray, batons and firearms. Tasers, he said, would likely fit in around the use of pepper spray.

"I think for the most part officers that had to physically roll around with people wouldn't have to roll around" if they were armed with tasers, he said.

"I know for myself if you can give an office one added tool on his belt to assist him in quelling a problem... and it's non-lethal, I think it's a positive all around," Sadousky, a 23-year veteran of the park police, said.

Leaders of State Park Police Local 2796 also say capping SPAC's attendance at 15,000 and closing the venue's beer garden would make concerts safer.

More than 50,000 fans attended Dave Matthews' performances June 12-13, thousands more spent Friday and Saturday in the park despite not having tickets to the shows.

Sadousky said he doubted whether the union's request would ever be approved; tasers were requested last year too, he said. "It's all about dollars and cents to them," he said of the State Parks Department.

Dan Keefe, State Parks spokesperson, declined to comment specifically on the request for tasers. "After every major event we conduct an operational security review... to see how we can best use our resources," Keefe said. "That review is ongoing and if there is room for improvement, we'll make it."

Live Nation handles security inside SPAC during concerts. General Manager John Huff said between 150 and 175 private security guards patrolled the venue and handled security at entrances and exits during the weekend shows. That is about double the number of guards at other SPAC concerts, he said.

"We had really no security incidents to speak of, just a handful of fence jumpers that security caught," Huff said.

Huff emphasized that Live Nation is not obligated to handle security anywhere but inside the concert venue during shows; security throughout the rest of the park - where thousands of people parked and spent Friday and Saturday partying - falls to Park Police.

Live Nation makes an annual contribution to the State Parks Department "to help cover" the costs associated with concertgoers flooding the park throughout the summer, Huff said. He added that the crowds bring "significant economic benefit" to the city's restaurants and stores.